The Bite
by Skiltch
Summary: Kurt finds out that Amanda's a souled vampire. And that there are other, unsouled vampires. Who don't really like him. COMPLETED FIC
1. Default Chapter

(Friday 8:00 PM)

"Can I come in?"

Amanda looked at her visitor. It was Percy Van Steider from school, the lead swimmer on the swim team and the boy that about half a dozen girls were after. He was super-rich and, from the fact that he had missed school for a week, had probably been super-busy as well for a while.

Percy continued, "I need to make a phone call. My, uh, car crashed, and I need a tow truck."

Amanda shrugged. "I don't see why not. Come in."

She turned to let the tall boy into the house. Percy quickly stepped in out of the rain and went over to the phone.

Amanda's mom came down the stairs. "Who is it?"

"It's Percy, Mom. He has to make a--"

"Oh, I see you got a new boyfriend!"

Amanda yelled, "WHAT?!" as her mother babbled on.

"I'm so glad you got over that fuzzy boy--"

Percy, waiting for whoever was on the other end to pick up the phone, laughed.

"See? We knew you would get--"

"Mom." Amanda said, making an effort not to scream. "I am not 'over' him. This is just a boy who needs to make a call. I still love Kurt. Please stop trying to interfere in my personal life."

Mrs. Sefton sighed and moved back to the dining room.

"Hey, Amanda, the phone isn't working," Percy said. 

"Huh?" Amanda moved next to Percy to study the little device. It looked fine. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah…" Percy's arm moved across Amanda's back, evoking a small squeal of delight, then a push.

"What the—what are you doing?"

Percy held up his hands, then looked down. "You looked like you needed a massage. You look tired."

Amanda eyed him strangely. "I'll, uh, get my Dad to look at the phone."

Percy nodded, then suddenly grabbed Amanda and slammed her across the head with the phone, wires trailing.

"Urk…" Amanda dropped to the ground.

Percy knelt next to her, picked her head up, and—

***

Mrs. Sefton walked back into the room ten minutes later, to find a very odd sight.

Amanda was lying on the ground, looking unconscious. There was a very small pool of blood from a wound on her head, and the telephone lay beside it.

Mrs. Sefton gasped, took a breath of air to cry for help, and began to yell, when suddenly a hand clamped over her mouth.

She looked sideways, and saw Percy. He smiled—

What the—

What was in his mouth?

Were those _fangs_? 

She reached out to punch him, but all she did was scratch his cheek a little, barely drawing blood.

Percy opened his mouth wider, and—

***

Percy stepped over the still-living form of Mrs. Sefton and went to the door. Three people stood outside, looking very impatient.

Percy beckoned them inside. "Come in, come in. Whoever finds the father first can have him."

The lead figure in the door was dressed with a kind of bizarre abandon, but his face was bright and intelligent. "And the mother?"

"Oh, there's a little blood left." Percy smiled. "Hope no one minds. But she found the girl."

The newest of the brood, a perky girl with clothes that looked like the ones that a beauty pageant contestant would wear, said, "How long should it take? Before she--"

"Oh, I'd imagine about a day. Then she becomes my minion."

The last one, and the one that had been his new self the longest (save Percy), spoke laconically, "You?"

"Me. Because I'm special. Well, and because I have money and a house and stuff like that."

"Honey?"

Mr. Sefton's footsteps echoed down the stairs.

Percy looked at the three vampires in the doorway. "Well?"

The three eagerly dashed into the house.


	2. Chapter 2

(Saturday 6:40 PM, sunset)

Kurt rapped on the Sefton's door, but it remained securely bolted shut. Still, that didn't stop him from calling out, "Amanda?"

Scott stood behind him, resolute. "Dude, she's not coming. Maybe she's out of town."

"With the cars in the driveway?" Kurt sighed. "And we had a secret date for tonight, besides. Oh well. Maybe she got sick and can't call or something."

"Kurt, I'm sorry, but her parents might have forced her to stop seeing you totally. By grounding her or something. Some people just can't accept mutants."

Kurt bared his teeth. "I'll show them a mutant…"

"Kurt." Scott put a hand on his shoulder. "It's getting kind of dark. Let's go, okay?"

"In a minute." Kurt looked at the ground sadly.

Scott checked his watch. "Look, I've got to get back. Would you mind porting back when you're ready?"

"Not at all," Kurt said, sadly. 

He sat on the steps and began to quietly cry as Scott walked off.

***

"So which part did you cut?"

It was Percy's house, and he was talking with his minions.

"Part?"  
"Of your body. To sire her. Uh, you did sire her right?"

"I drank their blood…"

The other speaker, the oldest new vampire, said, "Yes. After that, though, you're supposed to cut yourself, in the arm or something, and dribble blood into their mouth. That's what kicks out the soul and makes them true vampires. If you didn't, they get all the accessories – the pointy teeth, the flying, the sun-and-stake phobias, but they have a soul. Meaning also, incidentally, that they aren't hurt by crucifixes – but more importantly, that they aren't real vampires. And since you remembered to sire us, I didn't think to ask you whether you sired her as well."

Percy said, "Um… ah, crap, I forgot to sire Amanda herself. I made sure to kill the others, though. They weren't physically fit or useful for--"

"I know, they couldn't go to the high school. But you didn't sire Amanda?"

"I guess not." 

"Remind me to kill you later." The older vampire said.

"I'm already dead."

"It's metaphorical, stupid."

The vampire that obviously had no fashion sense stood. "I need a snack. See y'all later."

The well-dressed vampire also rose. "We should all get going. Stuff to do."

***

Amanda woke up on the ground with a rather large bump on her head. The last thing she remembered was…

"Percy!" She cursed inwardly, then stopped. Her clothes were still on, and there was the characteristic bulge in her pocket that signaled that her wallet wasn't missing. "So, if it wasn't that… what did he want?"

She got up unsteadily to find that her parents weren't saying anything. "Mom? Dad?"

Then she saw her parents. 

"Oh no…"

Mrs. and Mr. Sefton were lying on the ground with their necks broken. Both looked relatively unharmed otherwise, but... was that a cut on her mom's neck?

Amanda bent in closer. No, not a cut, but two puncture marks. And they were on her dad too.

In sudden horror, Amanda put a hand to her own throat. She felt up and around her neck, and soon her fingers brushed against two tiny incisions. 

Amanda ran to her room and grabbed her pocket mirror to try to see the cuts better, but she couldn't see herself in the mirror.

__

What the--

She felt bile rising in her throat, and dropped to her knees and began to cough. Force of habit made her rise her hand to her mouth, where it brushed something protruding from one of her teeth. Amanda felt it, and it was long and pointy and – _a fang?_

Then it hit her.

She was a vampire.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


	3. Chapter 3

Kurt was sitting on a park bench, still sad. The light drizzle coming down didn't help much, either.

"Hey dude!"

Kurt looked up and saw Forge, the only other teen at the mansion that was crazy enough to be voluntarily out in this kind of rain. "Forge?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm not in a good mood."

"I noticed. Come on, man, spill it."

Kurt shook his head.

"Something to do with Amanda?"

Kurt looked up. "How'd you know?"

"I just kind of know these things." Forge shrugged. "What happened?"

"She… wasn't there for our date. Didn't call, didn't anything." Kurt began to cry again. "And she wouldn't answer the door, even though both of the Sefton's cars were home and it's raining besides."

Forge moved a little closer to Kurt. "It'll be okay, dude. Calm down, I'll take you over to my place."

"Thanks." Kurt fingered his pendant. "Thanks a lot."

Forge noticed the pendant. "What's that?"

"This?" Kurt lifted up his pendant. It was a gold cross. "A present from my mom. When I first had to flee the town, my mom gave me this. I wear it when I'm when I'm sad, or when I need a reminder of home, or something. I had it with me from yesterday when Logan went through our rooms to 'clean' and I never took it out of my pocket."

Forge nodded. "Um… cool. Come on, let's go."

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, let's go, I guess." But despite his sad demeanor, he was starting to feel just a little happier. It was good to be able to count on a friend.

***

"Watch where you step," Forge warned. "It's kind of dirty, and your fur might get muddy."

Kurt nodded. "I just need a nap." He started to head further into the house, then stopped to jump back outside and shake off his fur under the awning. "Hey, why haven't you been at the Institute lately? It's been what, a week?"

Forge shrugged. "I don't know, just hasn't been interesting."

Kurt smiled. "You haven't seen Ray when I water-balloon him in the morning. But anyway, do you have a mirror down here? Or should I go to the bathroom? I need to make sure that I--"

Forge shook his head. "Sorry. No mirrors. The last one broke when yet another experiment began devouring glass. But the bathroom is up the stairs and to the left, if you have to go. The guestroom is across the hall from it."

Kurt smiled again, despite himself. "Okay. I guess I'll just call the Institute and go to bed then."

Forge nodded as Kurt wandered upstairs, then sat down and poured himself a cup of coffee. While blood was the vampire's preferred beverage these days, he enjoyed the stimulating effect of the black liquid. And he found that it made it much tastier to drink a meal.


	4. Chapter 4

Amanda stumbled through alleys and side streets in a daze, still not comprehending what had happened to her.

"Okay…" she began to mutter frantically. "What do I know. I am a vampire. My parents are dead. I will die as son as the sun comes up unless I find shelter… and I'm starting to get hungry."

She dropped to the ground, ignoring the squeal of a disgruntled cat. "What do I do? I don't want to kill anyone… and I doubt that butchers will be obliging enough to let me have a raw steak at 2 AM. But if I don't eat…" Amanda was sure that starving to death would be long and painful.

Then she remembered the cat.

"I'm going to be sick…" But she reached out slowly and stroked the cat, which had sat down again – it was easy to do; Amanda now had night vision. "Okay, come closer, come closer…" But the cat wouldn't move, although it did begin to purr.

"Great. If only I could eat purrs." Amanda tried another tactic, and began to inch over to the cat. "A little more, a little more…" Amanda was finally within biting range. "Gotcha." She looked around to make sure that no one was near, and pressed her face up against the cat's neck. Then, thinking that she wouldn't be able to do this any longer without losing nerve, she opened her mouth and bit the cat. 

The cat squealed, but blood was already flowing into Amanda's mouth, and she found it was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted.

She had planned to stop in the middle, so that the cat might live, but she found that she couldn't stop drinking the wonderful beverage… and then it was over. The cat was dead and Amanda was lying on the ground, a small dribble of blood coming out of her mouth.

"Ohh…" Amanda pushed herself up, and suddenly realized that she had killed the cat. "Wha… why couldn't I stop?" She held her head, then pushed the matter to the side. "I have to get back home before the sun gets out."

But the meal had made her tired. She collapsed on the ground, fast asleep.

***

Kurt woke up in the middle of the night with a sudden craving for a snack. Like usual.

Kurt ambled downstairs and stumbled over to the fridge. Then, he noticed a smaller box sitting next to it. The box had wires connecting it to an outlet and thus was receiving power, but Kurt didn't have the faintest idea of what it might be. However, he didn't care. He opened the fridge…

And it was almost empty.

Kurt scanned the shelves. A few bars of chocolate, some fruit, and a steak in the lower corner. Nothing that would satisfy a hungry Kurt.

Kurt closed the fridge and looked at the other box, guessing it to be a freezer. He opened it, expecting to find a frozen pizza or stir-fry, but there were just sealed containers of a dark liquid.

Kurt shrugged. The glass was frosted, so he couldn't see the drink, but he guessed it was an energy soda or something. He grabbed one, popped the lid, and began to drink.

And immediately ran over to the sink and spat it out.

"What IS this stuff?" Kurt turned a disgusted look at the glass. It tasted horrible.

"It's my favorite drink. But that's just me."

Kurt turned to see Forge stride into the kitchen. "Forge! What is it?"

Forge thought for a minute, then smiled. "It's blood."

Kurt looked at him for a minute in stunned horror, then nervously laughed. "No, really. What is it?"

"It's blood." Forge walked closer and closer to Kurt until they were almost touching. Then, lightning fast, he snapped a metal ring around Kurt's left wrist. "Specifically, human blood."

Kurt felt his fur rising. He prepared to teleport away – but he couldn't. It was as if something were chaining him to this dimension.

"Sorry, Kurt. Can't risk a victim jumping away on me." Forge turned to look at the blood-freezer. "I store some in case I can't get a meal, but it tastes so much better fresh, I think."

Kurt jumped away, ran for the door—

And Forge crash-tackled him to the ground.

"Oh no, Kurt. I've got you, and I'm not going to let my prey get away." He paused to consider something. "Although blood, like wine, tastes better with a little, very little, age and lots of inaction. But not too much age, though, if it waits too long it gets stale. Even a couple days could be bad. Thus, I think I'll shut you in the downstairs bathroom for tonight," Forge grinned, "And finish you right before I go to sleep at sunrise."

Kurt gulped.

***

(5:00 AM, Sunday)

Amanda came to at about five in the morning, and was immediately completely disoriented. "Where am I? Why am I out here at—oh." She saw the cat's body, and instantly remembered what was going on. "Great. I guess I'd better get home."

She heaved herself upright with far less effort than it took normally when Amanda was getting up to go to school. "I guess all that stuff I read about vampires having super strength are true after all." She began to run towards her house. "I hope I remember where it is… I wandered a lot this night."

***

(5:18 AM, Sunday, 3 minutes before sunrise)

Amanda had never been so lost, and so wishing to see something that she could safely hide in.

"Come on, come on! Dawn will be here soon."

Then, surprisingly, she heard an early morning struggle from one house.

Amanda decided that she wasn't going to make it home anyway before the sun rose. She ran over to the door and began pounding on it. "Help!"

***

Forge smiled to himself as he began to quietly unscrew the hinges of the bathroom door.

He knew that Kurt was probably inside, waiting for him to open the door. Kurt would try to tackle him, then run for the door. And while Forge had super strength, he didn't enjoy being sacked in the gut.

So he decided to unhinge the door, then knock it down so it fell on Kurt.

The last hinge went. Forge lowered the door to the floor and put his screwdriver down on a towel and quietly began shoving the door. Fortunately, he kept everything in his apartment spotless, so there had been no squeaking of hinges, nor would there be any scraping of the door on the ground.

BAM

Forge kicked in the door.

***

Kurt, on the other hand, wasn't in front of the door when it fell.

He was on the side.

Kurt didn't know how Forge would get in, but knew that he had to come through the door. So, Kurt had decided to surprise him when he came in with a blow to the head.

Forge entered the small room, looking around confusedly. His eyes fell on Kurt just as the blue demon smashed him in the head. Then he laughed.

Kurt gasped. "Shouldn't you be unconscious?"

"Super strength, Kurt. Figures. Last thing you'll ever learn is a lesson in vampire physiology. Kind of odd for a kind of odd boy, isn't it?"

It was then that both of them heard a faint voice calling, "Help!"

Forge looked up. "Who is it?"

The voice yelled back. "I'm Amanda Sefton! I have to get inside! Please!"

Forge smiled. "I'll fix the damage Percy caused," he muttered. Then, louder, he yelled, "Yeah, sure, the door's unlocked."

Kurt's face went as white as it could under the blue fur. "Amanda…"

"Yup." Forge smiled. "And the first thing she'll see is your drained body--"

With a surprising burst of strength, Kurt managed to shove Forge off him and run for the stairs. "Amanda! You have to leave!"

But Forge tackled him again, and the two of them fell down the stairs in a heap.

Forge heard Amanda coming in from the foyer, calculated that she wouldn't be able to arrive at the back of the kitchen far enough, and smiled. "See ya, Kurt." He raised the fuzzy boy's head to his mouth.

Kurt, out of ideas, continued struggling madly. As he did, he saw something gold fly out of his shirt and dangle there. 

His cross pendant. After Forge had kicked down the door, he had forgotten about it.

__

Why not? He managed to free one hand and knocked the pendant into one of Forge's arms. Forge's shirt was of the sleeveless variety, and so Forge screamed as his flesh turned red. Kurt scrambled up and ran for the door—

Only to crash into Amanda, who had heard the scream and was coming in to investigate.

Kurt picked himself up first. "Come on, we have to get out of here into the sun! Is it up yet?"

Amanda shook her head, "No! No sun."

Kurt was about to ask why when Forge barreled into the room, one hand holding a stake and the other a fancy ray gun.

"Goodbye, you two lovers." Forge smiled and fired his gun at Kurt.


	5. Chapter 5

Amanda buried her face into Kurt's head fur and hugged him. "Thanks." Then her face fell. "But what will I do? My parents are dead and--" She trailed off as she noticed that Kurt wasn't listening to her.

Kurt was instead staring at Amanda's neck. "Amanda, this might sound strange, but could you do that hug again? I think there may be a problem."

Amanda, confused, hugged Kurt again, and felt Kurt's arms tighten. She was about to ask why, when she felt something tickling her arm.

It was Kurt's cross pendant, trapped there by the two bodies.

Amanda said, "Hey, why wasn't I burned?"

Kurt nodded. "I don't know. Furthermore, I don't know why Forge attacked me. Wouldn't he remember me?"

Amanda thought for a moment, then smiled. "Does Forge has a laptop?"

"He probably has a supercomputer, why?"

"Let's see…" Amanda began to open doors. "If we find it, I think we can figure this out."

***

(7:00 AM Sunday)

"Aha!"

It was later in the morning and Amanda had found something on the Internet.

"Vampires," she read, "Are not exactly humans in normal mythology. Rather, they are demon/human hybrids, the demon spirit within the human body, displacing some of the mind. Thus, while the vampire may have memories of human things, he does not share sentimentalities, accents, or other mental traits."

"How does this person know this?" Kurt wondered.

"Maybe his girlfriend's a vampire too, and she told him." Amanda smiled, despite the circumstances. "But I'm not a demon, I'm sure. Whoever vamped me must have done something wrong."

"So you're what? A half vampire/half human? And if a vampire is half human as it is, you're what? Three-quarters human, a quarter vampire? That's not bad."

Amanda shrugged. "I just want to call the Professor. Maybe he'll know what to do." Her eyes began to well up again. "But I just keep thinking of my parents… lying on the floor, necks broken…"

Kurt hugged her. "We'll figure this out. And we'll find who's responsible."

Despite his words, it seemed that the events of the night had finally exhausted Amanda, and she continued crying into his fur until she fell asleep. Then Kurt was able to extricate himself from her grip and phone the Professor.

***

The Professor wheeled into the living room of the mansion, looking around somewhat nervously. "Kids."

The New Mutants looked up. So did Kitty, at the far end of the room. Rogue, Scott, and Kurt were away, and Jean was in the infirmary, had been for a week. 

"I just received a phone call from Forge's house." Xavier paused. "We've had a few problems over there, and a van was requested to pick up the occupants. But, as Logan and Ororo are in Paris, having cruelly abandoned me, and Hank fled after hearing that some kids would also be in this mission, you are going to have to do the whole thing."

Bobby shrugged. "No prob."

Jean ambled down the stairs. "Sorry, I'm late, the Doc was making me stay for another examination." She looked exhausted, but somehow managed to maintain a perky demeanor. "What's up?" As she walked by a mirror, her reflection interfered with that of Amara's, which earned her a growl.

The Professor nodded. "Ahem." He dabbed at his head with a cloth, despite it not being hot. "The following people have been selected for this mission. Ray, Sam, and Rahne."

The three shrugged.

"Oh, and as punishment for going out late last night for no discernible reason, you will have to endure a lecture by Jean the whole way there."

The three winced.

Jean smiled, but then the Professor said, "And Jean, as punishment for sneaking out last night despite having your virus, you must let the three of them pick the radio station on the way back."

Jean gasped. Ray grinned. Sam and Rahne kissed.

Xavier sighed. "You leave in ten minutes. Good day." He turned and wheeled off.

Bobby put on his Spooky Announcer voice. "And so, what is it you four were doing last night?"  
None of them answered.

Bobby grinned. "Could it be… secret dates?"

Ray and Jean both glared at him.

"Secret war?"

Sam rolled his eyes.

"Or maybe… you're all vampires!"

Fed up, Jean snapped. "Would you shut up? Now you're just being stupid; we all have reflections." She gestured to the mirror she had passed earlier. In it, the four of them were clearly visible.

Bobby shrugged. "Oh, so I'm wrong for once. Sue me."

Everyone said, "For _once_?" as one, and Bobby smiled sheepishly. 


	6. Chapter 6

Time seemed to pass in slow motion.

Amanda, still on the ground, was nevertheless able to get enough leverage to send herself at Kurt, knocking him out of the way. The blast hit her, and she cried out.

Kurt jumped up and threw himself at Forge. This, of course, accomplished absolutely nothing, because of Forge's superhuman strength. Kurt also saw something flicker, and recognized that as his image inducer blowing as his wrist slammed into Forge.

Kurt saw stars as his head slammed into the refrigerator, then saw them again as he was hurled up the stairs. He dimly saw Forge running to finish him off—

Then Forge went down.

When Kurt's vision cleared, Kurt stood up unsteadily and saw Kurt and Amanda wrestling for control of the stake. Questions ran through Kurt's mind: _Why did Forge have a stake? How can Amanda even hold out against him and his vampiric strength? Did that ray blast hit her? Why is she even here? _Then he decided he didn't care, and looked around frantically for a weapon.

Then he saw it.

Forge's screwdriver, still lying on the towel that he had set it on what seemed like years ago.

Kurt grabbed it, then vaulted back downstairs. 

At that moment, Forge had control of the stake and had it poised over Amanda's heart. "Good night--"

Then Forge turned to dust, and the stake fell harmlessly onto Amanda's chest.

Kurt dropped to the ground heavily and tried to reign in his breathing. Amanda crawled over to him in time to her him mutter, "Good job, good job, good job…"

"What?" Amanda looked up at Kurt.

"Oh." Kurt tried to smile, despite the circumstances. "I was telling you good job, although I guess you couldn't hear me. Thank you so much for, well, saving my life." The blue mutant did manage a smile, and so was perplexed when, instead of smiling back, Amanda began to cry.

"What's wrong?" Kurt looked at her strangely. "We defeated the vampire. The foulness has been eradicated--"

Then he saw Amanda's fangs, glistening within her slightly open mouth.

"Oh."

Well, at least it explained a lot.


	7. Chapter 7

Amanda saw Kurt's crestfallen expression, and suddenly felt an urge to leave. She was halfway to the door when she realized that the sun had by now almost certainly started to come up.

She was so busy musing that she didn't notice when Kurt put his hand on her shoulder, and she flinched. "Go away."

"Hey," Kurt said, "I can't do that. I'm kind of stuck here as long as you are." Upon receiving her questioning look, he amended, "I'm not a vampire, but my image inducer shorted out sometime during the fight." He held up a smoking wrist.

Amanda turned away. "You're repulsed. I can tell."

"What?" The blue mutant twisted Amanda around so she faced him. "I'm not repulsed? Why would I be repulsed?"

Amanda smiled mirthlessly. "Because I'm inhuman now. I'm a monster."

Kurt suddenly thought of a good response. "Really? Cool! You're a vampire and I'm a demon! We make a good team, right?"

Amanda burst into laughter.

Kurt nudged her playfully. "Seriously, you actually appreciated me when you saw the real me, I think I owe it to you to look beyond your fangs and need of sunscreen."

***

(8:30 AM, Sunday)

Everyone sat in silence in the van. Rahne had brokered a truce: no lecture for no heavy metal, and so Rahne and Sam had taken to quietly whispering mushy things, and Ray had been amusing himself greatly with the sights of downtown Bayville. Jean smiled, enjoying the discomfort she had caused in the annoying boy on his terms. Yes, it was good to be Jean.

About three-quarters of the way there, Rahne wolf-morphed and walked over to sit on Sam's lap. That way, she could get petted while she tried to figure things out. And the best part was, she could say everything verbally, since no one could understand wolf-speak. Or maybe she just really liked getting petted, but she had to rationalize her decision somehow aside from pleasure, or Sam might somehow find out and get mad.

"All right," she very, very quietly barked. "I wonder… Xavier didn't look it, but he sure was tense when he came into that room. I think there's something he isn't telling us… hey, maybe Bobby's right!" She gave a wolf laugh, which changed to a throaty purr when Sam began to rub her back just the way she liked it. "Maybe they're vampires… ah, if Sam's a vampire, I'll gladly get bitten!" She laughed again.

Jean sat up front. Even though she wasn't supposed to, she listened to the girl's thoughts, and an amused grin came over her face. Ray just kept his head against the glass.

No one noticed the van trailing them.

***

(8:45 AM, Sunday)

The car pulled into Forge's driveway, and the four teens went to stretch their legs. 

Jean was the first that actually went up to the house, yelling, "Can we come in?"

No answer.

Jean shrugged. "Oh well. Do we have the right address?"

Ray opened the door and went inside. "Come on already, Jean. We get in, get out, get on with our lives. Like that bank."

Jean smiled and curtsied. "After you."

The two entered the house and looked around the darkened rooms. Ray went over to the kitchen, and began to rifle through the fridge. "Kurt must have been here," he declared, "There's nothing left." Then he looked in the freezer. "What the heck?" 

Jean looked at him, then quickly read his mind, then smiled.

"Is this stuff blood?"

Jean went to look over his shoulder. "Yes, I do believe it is."

"Why on Earth would Forge have blood--"

Jean reached out with her mind, and saw that Rahne and Sam were cuddling outside. Then, she slammed Ray into the wall.

Ray gasped. "Urk!"

Jean picked him up and through him against the other wall, then levitated him.

Ray's vision began to clear. "Jean? What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Jean tossed her hair back and smiled, revealing her fangs. "I'm having some fun. Do you know how hard it is to keep up my image all day?! I have to form a sun shield around myself telepathically, form a reflection… at times, I'm just totally exhausted."

Ray futilely tried struggling. "Um… okay, you've made your point. Please let me down now."

Jean shook her head, smiling. "Sorry. But I'm kind of hungry."

Ray gulped.


	8. Chapter 8

"What do you mean the comm's down!" Beast snapped at Logan. "We can't send in backup without the comm!"

"I'm aware of that," Logan snarled. "But there's not much I can do until we fix it. So why don't you make yourself useful and draft Bobby to fix it while I monitor what's going on."

Beast sighed. "Yes, Logan. But I don't see how this could have happened. Kurt told Xavier about Forge, and Xavier guessed that there would be another vampire, and that's why he sent the other van, but what can we do? We can't contact them if the comm's down."

"Just fix it!" Logan snapped. "And be happy there isn't another vampire in there with Kurt."

Beast nodded and ran off.

***

Ray twisted helplessly in mid-air as Jean approached him, fangs glistening.

"Rahne? Sam?"

As it happened, Rahne had just entered the house. 

She walked into the kitchen in time to see Jean finish draining Ray and drop him to the ground.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!"

***

Kurt jumped out of his slumber with the sound of the scream. "Rahne?"

Amanda stirred. "What's going on?"

Kurt ran to the bedroom door and threw it open. "Someone's in trouble. You stay here, I'll take care of it. "

***

Rahne was picked up and slammed into the refrigerator by Jean, and she was in pain. "Owww…."

"What's the matter, werewolf? Can't fight back?"

Rahne tried to get up, but Jean held her down securely. "Where did you get all the telekinetic power? You've reflected the sunlight, made your own reflection, and you're still holding me down!"

Jean smiled. "Let's just say I'm far stronger than that fool Xavier ever thought." She bent down. "I wonder what a werewolf tastes like? I've never had a wolf."

Kurt dashed into the room and through himself on top of Jean, but Jean easily knocked him off and into the sink. "Sorry, but being a vampire has some perks, and super strength is one."

Kurt grumbled, "I know, Forge told me."

Jean looked up from Rahne for a second to ask, "And where is he, anyway? He should have awakened with all this noise."

Kurt smiled, a mirthless gesture. "Dust."

Jean gasped, then growled and lunged at Kurt, leaving Rahne on the ground.

Sam barreled in through the door, traveling at supersonic speeds—

And Jean, quick as a wink, simply floated into the air, leaving Sam to smash into a cupboard and fall to the ground, badly hurt.

"I've got you all," Jean said. "Now, but one question remains. Who do I kill… and who do I sire, to become a vampire themselves."

Kurt backed up on the counter until his back was against the wall.

Jean was still talking as she walked over to Kurt. "You know? I think I'll sire… let's see… how about our resident werewolf and demon, Rahne and Kurt. I doubt it would be too much of a stretch…" She leaned over Sam, mouth wide. "But Sam can die."

Kurt sighed. He had no strength or strategies left. Rahne was still on the floor, probably with something broken. Sam was unconscious and couldn't resist at all."

***

"The comm's back up!"

"Backup squad, get in there and take out Jean!" Logan roared.


	9. Chapter 9

Jean smiled. "Any last words?"

Sam muttered something in his sleep.

"No? Oh well." Jean was about to bite him when…

The door burst open, and Jean was hit in the back by a red energy beam. She dropped, wincing in pain, but quickly got up and turned.

Scott strode into the room. Behind him were Sunspot, Magma, Rogue, and Shadowcat.

Jean said, "More victims? How very kind."

Scott sighed and fired at point-blank range, snapping Jean's head back. "Or not. How about you explain right now what on Earth you were doing."

Jean shook her head. "I don't think so. You lunkheads can't kill me, and you'll never find out who sired me--"

Rogue smiled. "They won't. I will." 

Then she jumped on the counter and sprang at Jean. Jean dodged, but Rogue caught her shirt and pulled the two of them down in a heap.

Jean was tired. She'd been using her powers all day and couldn't push Rogue off—

Rogue slammed her hand on Jean's head, and Jean's world went black.

***

Amanda stumbled down the stairs in a stupor. "What's going on?"

Scott looked at her. "Uh… um… (Kitty, help me out here), uh…"

"Jean went psycho and tried to, like, kill us!"

Scott rolled his eyes. "(Not like that, genius)."

Rogue was rolling on the ground, twitching in pain.

Amanda went over to her. "What happened?"

Rogue's eyes opened. "Woah… that was weird."

"What?" Everyone asked.

Rogue saw Amanda. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story." Amanda walked back a few steps.

Magma looked up from Rahne. "She has a broken leg. And Sam has a concussion. And Kurt's exhausted. Good thing he's just a--"

"Say 'stupid peasant' and I smash your face in." Kurt slowly got off the counter.

Rogue muttered incoherently, then stood. "Okay, I drained that thing's memories."

"Jean's?" That was Scott.

"No, the demon inside of Jean. That isn't really Jean any more. But as I was saying, it remembered being sired by Percy, and meeting Forge and—oh no!"

"What?" Kurt asked.

"I know who the third non-master vampire is. He's at the mansion. Oh man, are we in trouble."

Amanda, not knowing of any third vampire, assumed they were talking about her, despite Rogue saying 'him,' and backed up quietly. Kurt also thought that Rogue was talking about Amanda. "Uh," the fuzzy mutant said, "Are you sure that you have the right person?" 

"Yeah. He's trouble."

"WHO?" Scott snapped.

Rogue was about to say, when Jean jumped up and belted her. Rogue gasped, then sank to the ground slowly, critically hurt in the head. Scott ran over to her, but Jean punched him, and he also dropped.

Jean's eyes flashed. "Who else wants some?"

No one moved.

***

Amanda watched by the stairwell as Jean threatened Kurt and everyone else, took a deep breath, and jumped at her. Jean went down, and the two girls struggled across the floor.

Kurt looked around and grabbed a pencil from the counter to use as a stake. Then he turned to the girls, only to find that he couldn't even aim at Jean's heart, as Amanda was directly over her.

Jean smirked as Amanda opened her mouth in pain, revealing her fangs. Jean grabbed Amanda, drew her close, and whispered, "Percy may have made a mistake, girl, but if I can't correct it, these guys sure will." Then she kicked Amanda off, flipped up—

And Kurt was waiting, and he stabbed her in the heart.

Jean fell to the ground and turned to dust.


	10. Chapter 10

Magma and Sunspot tended to Rahne, Sam, and Rogue in the bedroom. Scott, relatively uninjured with only a dark bruise on his head, and Kitty waited downstairs with Kurt and Amanda. 

Kurt recounted all the adventures of that morning, leaving out the fact that Amanda was now a vampire. When he finished, Kitty said, "Wow. That's seriously weird." Scott was over by the sink and staring at the wall, face red and blotchy from crying.

"No kidding."

Kitty grabbed his arm. "Need some help?" A quick phase later, and the metal bracelet fell to the ground, free of Kurt's wrist.

"Danke."

***

Sunspot put an ice-pack on Rahne's leg. "So, what were you guys sneaking out for?"

Rahne grinned. "Sam and I were going on a secret date, what else? And Ray was probably going out with Tabitha."

"At night?"

"Well, yeah! Bayville's night life. Way cool."

Roberto smiled wistfully. "Yeah, I wish that Amara and I did more stuff like that."

***

Meanwhile, Magma was coming down the stairs to search for more rubbing alcohol. As she walked, she took out her mirror and looked over her face. Crap, I'm bloody from all that wound-tending.

As she quietly walked past Amanda and Kurt, she studied the mirror again, wondering what kind of cosmetics to use. 

Then she stopped, and angled the mirror.

When she'd walked past Amanda, there had been no reflection. And sure enough, there was none now.

Fighting a growing feeling of dread, Amara removed one of her hair pins and approached Amanda…

***

Kurt had just convinced Amanda to laugh when he suddenly cried out, "Get down!" He shoved Amanda down just as Amara shoved a needle of some sort right where her heart would be.

"Thanks a lot, you stupid peasant," she said. "Amanda's a vampire! She has no reflection!"

Everyone gasped.

Kurt wondered what to say.

Amanda, however, suddenly pulled away from Kurt, slammed Amara out of the way, and ran down the hall.

Amara was about to chase after her when Kurt put a fuzzy hand on her shoulder. "I know," he said. "She told me."

Kitty looked at him reprovingly. "And, like, you didn't tell anyone?"  
"She… she didn't attack me at first, and she helped me fight off Forge." Kurt blushed. "I think something went wrong when she was sired, because she's still Amanda. Jean… wasn't Jean, just someone in Jean's body. Amanda was Amanda."

"Like, that's silly." Kitty rolled her eyes. "You're just so ga-ga over her that you're ignoring that she's a soulless monster. She didn't even help us in that last fight, except at the end when she knew we would win anyway."

Kurt shook his head. "You guys know I would be honest with you if that were true."

Scott sighed. "No, Kurt. We don't know that. We'll have to talk to Professor X…" He began to sob. "Jean's dead."

"Hang on," Kurt said. He held up a hand. "Is that… crying?"

Indeed, it appeared that someone aside from Scott was crying in the back of the house.

"It's probably upset that we unmasked it," Amara said.

Kurt punched her.

Kitty jumped up, but Scott put a gentle hand on her shoulder and held her back.

Blood flowed from a cut in Amara's cheek.

Kurt snapped, "She – not it, she -- isn't a vampire anymore than I am a demon. Or that you are a monster. She's just another person like us who had something unfortunate happen to her, and I can't believe that you're heartless enough to ignore that, or think so little of my intelligence that you think that I wouldn't know if my girlfriend was a monster."

He stalked off.


	11. Chapter 11

Amanda sat crying in one of the many labs around Forge's place.

*BAMF*

Kurt popped in. "Hello, Miss Sefton! This is Kurt Wagner and I will be your boyfriend and counselor today! Do you have any special requests?"  
Amanda managed a very thin smile, then broke down into tears again. "Oh Kurt, what will I do?" She hugged him more tightly than she had last night. "Even your friends don't trust me now that they know what I am."

Kurt returned the hug. "I trust you."

"But you're only one person. Where will I go? How will I live? What will I do?"

"Whatever it is," said Kurt, pulling her close, "I'll be there helping."

Amanda began to cry again. "Oh Kurt…"

***

Xavier hung up the phone. "That was Kurt. He's apparently been hiding things from us."

Beast looked up in horror. "He's a vampire too?"

"No, but his girlfriend, Amanda is. Interestingly, he thinks that something went wrong when whoever sired her was in the act of siring; she seems to still be Amanda. If you could research that?"

"I'm on it." Beast turned to a computer. 

"Also," Xavier said, "There appear to be at least two more vampires. One more minion at this mansion, from what Rogue said before passing out due to a Jean attack, and the master, Percy Van Steider."

Beast looked pensive. "I'll tell Logan to grab everyone in the Institute and throw them in front of a mirror, himself included. Then we search the town for Percy. We can't have vampires running around willy-nilly."

"Check. I'll tell Kurt to put the others on, see what they know."

***

Kurt, finished with his phone call, was in the middle of hugging Amanda when Scott came in, lugging the big freezer box.

"The Professor said that we should move Forge's blood supply in here, in case you," he pointed to Amanda, "get hungry. How's it going?"

"It's okay," said Kurt, still in the hug. "We're okay." He turned back to Amanda and began to massage her. "It'll be fine, Amanda… I still love you…"

Scott looked around uncomfortable. "Um, I'll just leave…"

Kurt shrugged. "Nah, you can stay a while too. You must be really sad about losing Jean."

Scott sat down heavily. "You know, she meant a lot to me. She really did. But I never could tell her. I always just said, 'tomorrow,' 'next time,' or something. And now she's dead."

Kurt nodded. "Yeah. It's a depressing day. It's sad when you find yourself hoping fervently that no one else is going to die."

***

(10:00AM Sunday)

Bobby entered his room smiling, looking forward to seeing Jubilee. Sure enough, there she was, his Asian princess. "Hey, Jubes!"

Jubes gave a tight-lipped smile. "Hi."

"Something wrong?"

Jubilee shrugged and went to shut the door. "Have you heard the rumors?"

"Of course. Like that Forge was a vampire? Or that Jean or Scott or Kitty were? Hey, I've even heard that Amanda might be one!"

Jubilee smiled as the door closed. "I think that they're true."

"Huh? Why?"

Jubilee turned, fangs shining. "Because I know."


	12. Chapter 12

Bobby's breath caught in his throat, and he lunged for the drapes, but Jubilee was already on him, stopping him from opening them. "I don't think so."

Bobby gasped, "Did Percy sire you? Like everyone's saying?"

Jubilee rolled her eyes, there were so few people at the mansion that weren't on the Forge mission that 'everyone' was about a half-dozen people. "He may be the master… but it wasn't him that sired me."

Bobby knew he was going to die. He shut his eyes, waiting for the end—

And suddenly a great weight was lifted off his chest.

Bobby opened his eyes to see just a small cloud of dust where Jubilee had been. Logan stood in the room, claws extended. "I don't suppose she told you who sired her, bub?"

"No…" Bobby thought. "But I think I can figure out who, if it's anyone here at all."

"Oh really? How? Chuck can't find anyone that's thinking about being a vampire. Hank thanks it's a vampire ability, a mental shield. And we do know that he or she is here. So if we don't know, how do you?"

"Because I'm smart." Bobby smiled. "First, we can assume that the vampire isn't on the mission, because otherwise he or she would have certainly tried to stop the phone calls that told you all of this. Or would have at least started murdering our wounded comrades."

"How do you know about the wounded guys?"

"Because Sunspot called me on my cell phone and told me that I owed him ten bucks, because I predicted no one would get wounded." Bobby continued smiling.

"Yeah, whatever bub. Are you aware that we also have a dead body?"

Bobby's face fell. "What? Who… who died?"

"It doesn't matter." Logan put his face against Bobby's. "Now what were you saying about knowing who the third vampire is?"

"Well…" Bobby said, "Not counting us two, there are three other adults and three other kids at the mansion. Now, Xavier and Beast have been helping to save the kids at Forge's, according to Roberto, and Storm's been out all day in the garden, in the sun. So it's not an adult."

Logan said, "That leaves… Tabitha, Jamie, and Evan."

"Yes, but…"

***

The three kids in question were in the Danger Room, goofing around.

"I have you now!" Evan laughed, firing a fake machine arm at Jamie, who squealed and dodged. Tabitha couldn't move, as she was on her sides with laughter, and so she was picked up and held over the 'pit of evil lava.'  
"And now I shall kill you, Miss Kind-Of-Beautiful!" Evan laughed again and began to push buttons on the arm, which began to lower Tabitha.

Tabitha stopped laughing long enough to yell, "Oh, help me sweet Prince Jamie!"

Jamie, dressed marvelously in a cape and high boots, said, "I shall save you from Doctor Evil! En garde!" He withdrew from his cape a 'lightsaber.'

Evan smiled. "Ah, but you cannot kill me! I am your brother!"

"NOOOOO!"  
Tabitha smirked. "Well, I do see a family resemblance."

"Be quiet." Evan smiled, took out his own 'lightsaber,' and began to fence against Jamie.

***

Logan and Bobby ran to the Danger Room door. "They've locked it down!" Cried Bobby.

Logan snarled and plunged his claws into the door control panel. The door opened, revealing the Cloud City of Bespin, in which a ferocious duel was taking place.

Logan sighed. "One of these days I will be able to give up beer. One of these days…"

***

Jamie was about to do his heroic flip down the wind tunnel when the door opened, revealing Logan and Bobby. "What is it, guys? Want to join us?"  
Logan shook his head. "Activate simulation shut down!"

The room instantly faded back to gray walls. Tabitha fell to the ground with a smack as the force fields turned off.

Logan sighed. Again. Then he said, "Tabitha, Evan, we need to see you two."

"Activate simulation 111!"

Everyone turned to look at Jamie.

Then walls began to rise, and the room faded to a bizarre purple scheme.

"Danger Room simulation 111 activated," said the computer. "Objective: to make it through the maze and pick up the priceless jewel of the Storm."

Logan blushed. "I hoped no one would find this sim." He turned to Bobby. "We have to go!"

***

Evan ran smack into Bobby in about five minutes. "Guys? What on Earth's going on?"

Bobby quickly summarized the vampire situation as best he knew from Roberto and Logan, then added, "And Jamie's the new vampire."

"Why?"

"Because we saw all of you out in the sun… but Jamie was the only one who could have sent a duplicate. And we still don't know all about the duplicate's capabilities yet, it's possible that the vampire one would have the same properties as a regular one, aside from the fangs."

Evan gulped. "Great. So we have to chase down and subdue Jamie?"

"If we can." Logan shrugged. "We've lost four people today already, we may have to," he sighed once again, "Stake him."

Bobby looked at Logan. "We'll have to hurry. The faster we find him, the more likely the chance that we can knock him out."

***

Tabitha ran through the maze as well, searching for the exit. "Why did Jamie call this sim?"

"Tabitha?"

Tabitha looked and saw Jamie peeking out of a side passage. "Hi, Jamie. Why'd you call the sim?"

"I dunno…" He looked at his feet, Tabitha guessed he was blushing. "I just did."

Tabitha extended her hand. "What now?"

Jamie took the hand, then suddenly flipped onto her back. "Piggyback ride!"

Tabitha, despite herself, smiled. "Sure thing, kiddo."


	13. Chapter 13

Evan rounded a corner, the others right beside him… and gasped.

Jamie was there, riding on Tabitha's back!

Just as Evan yelled, "Tabby!" Jamie winked and sank his fangs into Tabitha's neck.

Tabitha cried out and dropped to her knees. The few yards to her felt like an eternity, and Evan was fixated on Jamie's mouth…

Then he was there and he slammed into the young boy, breaking off a fang and causing Jamie to cry out in pain.

Tabitha lay on the ground, gasping, a fang embedded in her neck.

Logan, trying to remember his military medical training, knelt by the fallen girl.

Bobby quickly fired a stream of ice, freezing the vampire securely to the ground.

Evan approached Jamie with his 'lightsaber,' a painted stick. He pointed it at the young boy. "Well?"

Jamie snarled.

***

Roberto answered Forge's phone. "Uh… yeah… yeah… you didn't tell them to leave?"

Rahne looked up. "What is it?"  
"Amanda, Scott, Kurt, and Kitty took off to fight Percy," said Roberto. "They claimed they had instructions from Xavier, but I guess they lied."

Rahne winced. "Someone has to go after them."

"Not us." Roberto went to Rahne and changed her arm dressing – it was soaked through with blood. "Because you guys are too ill and I have to play nursemaid."

Rahne smiled, canine teeth bared. "Thanks."

***

Xavier sat in front of a brooding, tied-up Jamie. "Now, Jamie, you must understand, even now we have Hank working on a way to put you back the way you were."

Jamie smiled. Then he laughed. It was an evil laugh. "I'm not Jamie."

"What?"

"I'm not Jamie, and I don't want Jamie to come back." Jamie laughed more, his fangs showing. "See, if Jamie came back, I would leave. And I don't want to leave."

Logan walked up to Jamie and glared. "Well, if we have to, we'll make you leave. By killing you. So you'd better answer our questions."

"No you won't." Jamie shook in his bonds. "You'll just keep me tied up until Mr. McCoy is done."

Evan walked in.

"Ah, Evan. How is Miss Smith?" Xavier asked.

Evan sighed. "She lost some blood, but Beast thinks it's replaceable via our private blood bank and such. She'll live." He glared at Jamie. "Unlike some."  
"Evan, please." Xavier sighed. "This could be a long day." 

***

Amanda lay in the back of the van, hidden from the sun by the seat in front of her and the darkened windows. "Where are we?"  
Scott, from the driver's seat, said, "We're about a mile west of Percy's house… and I can see it from here. Wow, it's as big as the mansion!"

Percy Van Steider had come from one of the richest families in Germany (AN: No, he doesn't know Kurt from Germany, I just needed a name and 'Van Steider' sounded cool). When he moved to America with a rich aunt, there was no way he could have known that she would almost immediately die and leave him about ten million dollars and a giant estate and mansion. Percy, being a rather nice person before being bitten, had sent about half of the money home or to charities, but that still left five million dollars for security systems that had Kurt worried. Kurt voiced as much, causing Kitty to say, "Like, how do you know?"

"I worked with him on a history project once that involved one of his ancestors. He was very chatty."

Kitty turned away. "I still don't know why we had to bring her."

"Because he killed my family." Amanda said. "He turned me into… a monster. I want to make him pay."

"I don't think you're a monster."

"Thanks, Kurt."

Kitty sighed. "I still think we should have told Xavier."

"He wouldn't have wanted us to go," said Scott. 

"That's the entire point. Since when did you, like, start breaking the rules?"

"Since my girlfriend had to be turned into vacuum-bait by some swimmer-dope." Scott snarled. "Amanda, the only way you'll get to kill Percy is if I don't first."

"Wait," Kurt said. "He's the master, he may be able to undo the vampirism. Or something."

"I doubt it." Scott looked to the left. "We're coming up. Amanda, grab your blanket." 

Amanda nodded.

The car stopped at the front gates. "Who is it?" came a voice.

Scott was about to speak when Amanda raised her hand to stop him, snatching it down as it began to burn in the indirect sunlight. "My name is Amanda Sefton."

There was no noise at the other end for about a minute. Then, the slightly accented voice of Percy Van Steider came. "Ah, Amanda. Good. I thought you might come. Why don't you meet me in the study. Gerrard, see this lovely lady in. The primary garage will do nicely."

The gates creaked open, and soon a slightly balding man drove up in a golf cart. "If you'll follow me," he said.

Scott nodded curtly.

(10:30 AM)

Scott pulled in, and the servant got out of his cart, shut the garage door, and opened an interior door. "Please follow me, Miss Sefton. Your driver and the others can wait here."

Amanda nodded. Motioning the others to stay back, she crawled over to the door, exited the car, and went inside.

However, no sooner was the man gone than Kurt jumped up. "Screw that," he said. "I'm going in with her."

"Me too." Scott said.

Kitty sighed. "Someone has to keep you two males from wrecking everything."

***

Amanda walked into a plush library, and saw Percy sipping a mug. "Percy."

"Ah, Amanda. How goes things?" He smiled. "Care for a drink?" He gestured to another mug.

"I'm not thirsty."  
"But perhaps hungry?" He waved at the mug. "It's fresh blood. Pig's blood, since you seem to have an objection drinking other human's."

Amanda felt hunger gnawing at her again. Giving up, she sat down and began to drink, and again found that she couldn't stop herself from consuming the entire thing. Percy watched with detached amusement.

"You can't resist your urges, can you? Admit it, Amanda, when you look at your boyfriend or your classmate, you look at his neck. You hear his blood pounding."

Amanda shook her head resolutely.

"Ah, but you do, my girl." Percy smiled. "You fight the vampire within you, but you can't fight forever. Sooner or later, whether I officially sire you or not, you will be possessed. The question, my dear, is: do you want to work with the demon, or be consumed by it?"

Amanda again shook her head. "I'm not like that. I can resist."

"Can you? You see, here's what it is: one day, you won't have a convenient animal or mug of blood nearby. You'll have to pick between starvation and killing a person. And you'll feel wracked with guilt and terrible, and you'll eventually blundered into a stake and die a sad lady. Or, you can acknowledge your nature now and have fun with it." But Percy was cut short by his main servant running into the room.

"Sir! The others have entered the mansion, sir."

Percy thought for a minute. When he next spoke, it was not to the servant. "You know, Amanda," he said, "Now that that despicable Jean Gray is dead, you're the only female vampire I know. And I don't think you know any other male ones either, and it's not like someone will want to marry a vampire." He turned back to the servant. "As long as they don't go into my bedroom or something, give them free reign to go where they please." And to Amanda, "If you would just give up and bite someone, we could marry… you could find happiness."

Amanda said, "What if I want you to reverse the process… scum?"

Percy took no notice of the insult. "That would take genetic extraction and medication, so far as I know, and it may not even be possible. What I want is for you to find yourself… Gerrard, leave us." Gerrard bowed and exited the room.

"Amanda, I will call him back in a second. If you truly want to die alone and friendless, by all means, ask for coffee or something. It will come in a moment, you will drink it, and then you will be escorted out. Or, you can do what I would do: you can bite him, drain him, and if you want, sire him." He waved his hand around the plush library. "If we married, you could have all this." He shrugged. "Or, you have a third option. Wander this facility, see the gym, the pool, the nighttime golf courses, I think three hours is enough time. See the sights. Then decide." He stood up. "I leave you to your decision. Gerrard! Please come back."

Gerrard reentered the room. "Yes?"

"I believe the young lady has something she would like, doesn't she?"


	14. Chapter 14

Amanda smiled. "Yes, could you please show me to the gym?"

***

(1 hour later)

Scott and Kurt walked through the halls at a stiff pace, Kitty trailing behind them. They had been wandering the plush mansion for an hour, and still couldn't find Amanda.

"I hope Amanda's all right…" Kurt said. "I can't believe that I can't find her. And I'm supposed to be a good tracker, but blood permeates this place. It's throwing all my senses off."

"If I find him, I don't care what he's done to Amanda," Scott said. "I'm nailing him."

"What about you, Kitty?" Kurt asked.

"Oh, like, I don't know." Kitty rolled her eyes. "I still think we should have gotten backup." 

Scott sighed.

Then, as they turned a corner, they walked right into Amanda and Gerrard!

Amanda was very surprised. "Gerrard, go away," she commanded. Gerrard bowed and then strode off down the hall.

Amanda turned to the mutants. "Guys? What are you doing here?"

"We came to rescue you," Kurt said.

Amanda smiled. "I'm not exactly in need of rescuing. The only thing that Percy said of any relevance is that I get to wander for three hours, then leave."

"Why?" Scott asked. "Why not just escort you out? Why are you even here?"

Amanda sighed and sat down on the plush carpet. "He says that if I give in to my inner, uh, vampire within the time limit and kill someone for blood, we can marry and I get all this stuff to play with." She shrugged. "But of course I won't do that… what scares me is that I think he may be right about something." She trailed off, then began to speak again. "He says that one day I won't have the luxury of pig's blood or kittens. That one day I'll have to kill someone or starve. I'm scared, Kurt."

Kurt knelt next to her and began to massage her back. "We'll be with you for that day, Amanda. We will."

Amanda smiled contentedly and hugged her boyfriend. "I think I'm ready to face Percy."

"You didn't forgive him for killing your parents, did you?" asked Scott.

"No, but I can't see what attacking him would get me," said Amanda. "As terrible as it was, I'm going to have to just curse him and walk off, if I fight him, he's got about a dozen servants to hold me down while he stakes me. No, I'll just go talk to him."

And so she went.

***

The others weren't allowed in the library. Scott was barely restrained from bursting down the door, and was finally contented with listening through the crack as Percy and Amanda exchanged dialogue.

"I'm sorry Percy, but I can't. I'm not you." Then she put an edge in her voice. "And if I ever see you outside this house, outside your servants, I'll kill you for what you did to my parents."

Percy sighed. "I was afraid this would happen." He walked over to a lockbox in the corner and removed a key from his pants pocket. "There is nothing more dangerous than a monster that isn't." He was talking to himself, it seemed, or to an imaginary ghost. "For when the monster relapses, it has no control." He unlocked the box and began to rifle through it. "There is just no hope for a monster that isn't." He found what he wanted. "It must be destroyed before it can grow old."

He turned. He was holding a stake.

"I'm sorry, Amanda. I really am."

Then he charged.

***

The others winced as they heard the sound of fighting.

Kitty immediately phased her head in and relayed what was going on. "Percy has a stake, he's going for Amanda… now Amanda, she grab a hairpin… okay, they're dueling in midair…"

***

Amanda was having lots of problems. She couldn't yet grasp the mechanics of flying, especially without any scientific principals that she'd learned in school. Percy was battering at her, and it was all she could do to block with her arms."

"I'm sorry, Amanda." Percy looked like he really meant it as he knocked away Amanda's pitiful hairpin. "Good night." He lunged.

***

Scott fired his laser beam, narrowly missing Kitty and blowing the door to smithereens. Running past Kitty's tumbling form, he fired again, this time at Percy. The blast hit, but had no apparent effect.

"Crap…" Consumed with anger and grief, he tried to picture where they were in the mansion. "We should be… right at the eastern edge."

"Yes…" He turned towards the east wall.

Kurt saw what he was going to do and yelled, "No!" but Scott fired, and the wall crumbled to dust. Sunlight poured into the room. For Kitty, Scott, and Kurt, that was no problem.

For Percy and Amanda, high at the ceiling, it was a very big problem.


	15. Chapter 15

Amanda had maybe a minute's respite from most of the sun because of Percy's body in the way. He shrieked and flew through an air vent, on fire.

Then it was her turn. She felt herself burning. She shut her eyes -- and then she felt the burning stop.

"Huh?" She opened her eyes to see… blue! Kurt had teleported up with her and was shielding her.

*BAMF*

They were on the ground of the library, with Kurt still shielding Amanda's body.

*BAMF*

And then they were in the hall outside, beyond the broken door and the furthest extent of the sunlight, and Amanda was safe.

***

"I will need to talk with Scott about his anger management problem," said Xavier. "We are all depressed at the loss of Jean, but--"

"It's okay, Professor." Amanda was talking to Xavier over the phone about the events of the last few hours. "I'm fine."

"Yes. Well, now that Percy is eliminated, all that remains is to determine a cure for Jamie and to see what his will says--"

"I may be of some help."

Gerrard was standing near Amanda. Kitty shrieked and Kurt and Scott jumped. No one had noticed him come up.

"Master Percy's will says that--"

And Percy jumped at Amanda from the next room!

"You didn't quite kill me," he said. "And you won't. So stop trying and die!" He grabbed a stake and raised it at Amanda, who was too unprepared and surprised to do anything--

And Percy cried out and fell to the ground.

Kurt was behind him, armed with his cross pendant. He grabbed Percy's stake and plunged it into the heart of the still-in-pain boy. "Meet Fuzzy the Vampire Slayer!" he cried, and everyone laughed.

Even Gerrard cracked a smile. "Anyway. To be honest, I was hoping that he would die like that… and so was he, I think, from the peculiar nature of his will, which refers to his slayer."

Xavier, at the other end of the phone, said, "What's going on?"

"Read our minds, Professor," Amanda said into the phone. Then she turned to Gerrard. "How so?"

"Well, let me start by saying that all of us servants have already been paid for fifty year's service just recently by Master Percy, so you don't need to worry about that. But his goods have been divided into two groups." He walked over to the phone. "Is Master Jamie in the mansion, Master Xavier?"

"He's sedated. Mr. McCoy, a noted genealogist, tried to extract the vampire gene from him. We don't know how it went."

"Could you put the doctor on then, please?"

There was a shuffle at the other side of the line, then, "This is Mr. McCoy."

"Tell me, sir, did you use the Polimer theory of gene extraction, or the De Jacques one?"

"You know genealogy?"

"Not really, but Percy was fascinated with it. He wanted to cure himself of his own vampirism, and to be honest, I wanted him to succeed too. Not to speak ill of the dead, sir, but it was strange serving a vampire. Anyway, the De Jacques theory, if you used it, will re-soul the boy, because it destroys the demon and the foreign blood from Percy. The Polimer theory won't do anything."

"I'm glad I used the De Jacques one, then." Beast smiled. "Can I get Jamie back any further?"

"I'm afraid, if so, Master Percy could not figure out how. It's irrelevant. When he wakes, could you please put him on the line?"

"Yes, certainly. We'll monitor it, though, of course."

"Of course."

Gerrard turned away from the phone. "Kurt Wagner. Master Percy's will specifically states what must happen to the person who slays him -- for he did guess that he would not die in an accident, but someone would take his life."

"What about me?" Kurt felt his fur on the back of his neck rising.

"You have… this manor."

Kurt's mouth fell open.

"Percy's parents died last month. He has no living relatives. Despite his being a vampire, and consigned to his fate as a blood-sucking 'monster,' as he put it, he wanted to aid the fight against other vampires, so they do not sire others."

Amanda asked, "Why did he want to turn me, then?"

"I would imagine that he thought, you being a vampire with a soul, that you would lose control one day and go on a rampage. He thought if he turned you now, you would learn restraint."

"Oh. What happens to his money?"

Gerrard smiled. "He couldn't fully leave vampire tradition behind. It goes to the first person that he sired. And that's… Mr. Jamie Maddox. Mr. Maddox is now the possessor of around four point eight million dollars."

Now it was everyone's mouths that fell open.

(One week later)

Amanda stood in the repaired library of the Van Steider estate. "I don't know what to say, Kurt. Other boyfriends buy their girlfriend's rings or chocolate. You give me a manor."

Kurt smiled. "What are friends for?"

Amanda sank into an overstuffed chair. "I wish my parents were still alive."

"And so do I," said Kurt. "Even though we didn't really get along. But Amanda. As long as you need me, need a shoulder, need anything, I'll be here for you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "How's Scott?"

"Beast has him in therapy, and Logan has him doing lots of exercises to 'work the grief out.'" Kurt smiled. "He'll never do anything like that again."

"I hope he knows I'm not mad."

Kurt nodded. "I'll tell him."

Amanda smiled again and hugged Kurt.

"There's better news still. Beast is almost done with a 'holoshroud.' It'll block the sunlight and provide its own internal light source for about three hours. You'll be able to take trips to the store again."

Amanda broke down in tears.

"What's wrong?"  
"Kurt, you're so nice to me, after I tried to push you away so much." She sobbed some more. "You tell me good news, you reassure me. I don't deserve you."  
Kurt gently pulled her into another hug. "Hey, that's nothing. Did I tell you about the time I stormed out of the house in Heirelgart?"

Amanda looked up, confused. 

"Oh yeah! I threw a tantrum and fled, and broke some stuff, and the usual fuzzy-related mayhem. Trust me, you've done nothing."

Amanda smiled once more. "And Jamie?"  
"He's staying at the mansion, learning to fly and such. Not even Logan knows quite what to do with him." Kurt smiled. "But who cares?" He moved closer to her. ". Jamie and Logan can do what they want."

Amanda nodded. "Because we're together."

Kurt grinned, a toothy smile that flashed from ear to ear. "No matter what species we are."

Laughter rang out through the mansion.


End file.
